TY - JOUR
AU - S. Pfannkuch
AU - R. Wirth
AU - U. Trampisch
AU - D. Volkert
AU - M. Pourhassan
A1 - 
AB - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of the Determinants of Malnutrition in Aged Persons (DoMAP) and identify determinants of malnutrition among older adults attending primary healthcare. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective, observational, monocentric study in primary healthcare. PARTICIPANTS: 500 older adults. MEASUREMENTS: Malnutrition was diagnosed using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. Potential causes of malnutrition were assessed by the attending physician using the DoMAP model with a 1:1 recruitment of malnourished and non-malnourished older persons. RESULTS: Malnourished individuals (mean age 81.7 ± 5.0 years; 59% women) exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of almost all DoMAP determinants compared to non-malnourished persons, particularly low intake (88 vs. 11%), high requirements (83 vs. 49%), poor appetite (73 vs. 9%), shopping difficulties (59 vs. 26%), inflammation (81 vs. 49%), gastrointestinal disease (17 vs. 2%), cancer (11 vs. 1%), depression (35 vs. 19%), dementia (21 vs. 6%), polypharmacy (60 vs. 38%), and hospitalization (27 vs. 4%). The mean total determinants count was significantly higher in malnourished participants (14.9 ± 5.0) than in non-malnourished ones (6.8 ± 4.4; p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed low intake as the strongest determinant at Level1; poor appetite, forgetting to eat, shopping difficulties and inflammation at Level2; gastrointestinal disease, cancer and depression at Level3, and frailty and hospitalization at Level4. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the complex multifactorial nature of malnutrition in older adults attending primary healthcare, confirming the superior role of low intake and poor appetite among other determinants. The DoMAP model offers a structured framework for potential causative factors of malnutrition in older subjects.
AD - Department of Geriatric Medicine, Marien Hospital Herne, University-Hospital of Ruhr-University Bochum, Herne, Germany.; Institute for Biomedicine of Aging, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany.; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Marien Hospital Herne, University-Hospital of Ruhr-University Bochum, Herne, Germany. Electronic address: maryam.pourhassan@ruhr-uni-bochum.de.
AN - 41314061
BT - J Nutr Health Aging
C5 - Healthcare Disparities
CP - 1
DA - Jan
DO - 10.1016/j.jnha.2025.100745
DP - NLM
ET - 20251127
IS - 1
JF - J Nutr Health Aging
LA - eng
N2 - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of the Determinants of Malnutrition in Aged Persons (DoMAP) and identify determinants of malnutrition among older adults attending primary healthcare. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective, observational, monocentric study in primary healthcare. PARTICIPANTS: 500 older adults. MEASUREMENTS: Malnutrition was diagnosed using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. Potential causes of malnutrition were assessed by the attending physician using the DoMAP model with a 1:1 recruitment of malnourished and non-malnourished older persons. RESULTS: Malnourished individuals (mean age 81.7 ± 5.0 years; 59% women) exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of almost all DoMAP determinants compared to non-malnourished persons, particularly low intake (88 vs. 11%), high requirements (83 vs. 49%), poor appetite (73 vs. 9%), shopping difficulties (59 vs. 26%), inflammation (81 vs. 49%), gastrointestinal disease (17 vs. 2%), cancer (11 vs. 1%), depression (35 vs. 19%), dementia (21 vs. 6%), polypharmacy (60 vs. 38%), and hospitalization (27 vs. 4%). The mean total determinants count was significantly higher in malnourished participants (14.9 ± 5.0) than in non-malnourished ones (6.8 ± 4.4; p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed low intake as the strongest determinant at Level1; poor appetite, forgetting to eat, shopping difficulties and inflammation at Level2; gastrointestinal disease, cancer and depression at Level3, and frailty and hospitalization at Level4. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the complex multifactorial nature of malnutrition in older adults attending primary healthcare, confirming the superior role of low intake and poor appetite among other determinants. The DoMAP model offers a structured framework for potential causative factors of malnutrition in older subjects.
PY - 2026
SN - 1279-7707 (Print); 1279-7707
SP - 100745
ST - Potential causes of malnutrition in older adults in primary healthcare-A cross-sectional study
T1 - Potential causes of malnutrition in older adults in primary healthcare-A cross-sectional study
T2 - J Nutr Health Aging
TI - Potential causes of malnutrition in older adults in primary healthcare-A cross-sectional study
U1 - Healthcare Disparities
U3 - 10.1016/j.jnha.2025.100745
VL - 30
VO - 1279-7707 (Print); 1279-7707
Y1 - 2026
ER -